baked beet chips

There are so many foods that I love now that I used to think were public enemy number 1 as a child: onions, any cheese other than Cheddar, brussel sprouts, and beets. Beets for me are one of those magical ingredients that if seen on a menu immediately get ordered by me. Can’t help myself. Terra Chips do a mean beet chip and while they aren’t my favorite of the Terra family (it’s the taro chip, but shhh…) I thought it would be fun to recreate the beet chip magic at home.

Without the use of a mandolin, I did my best to create evenly sliced beet chips. I ended up impressed with my results. Of course, I think I need to suck it up and start using a mandolin. The results weren’t THAT impressive.

Add a small drizzling of olive oil and some salt while the chips are still in the bowl to get an even coating.

I lined the chips up on a baking sheet, employing the help of my new silpat. If I haven’t already mentioned that I’m nothing short of in love with this item, then allow me to do so now. Why is it that I wait so long before purchasing something that will save me so much baking heartache? 375 degrees, 20 minutes later…

Half way done. A quick flip of the chips and another 15-20 minutes later…

A bowl of baked beet chips.

Now, here’s the thing. They aren’t entirely crunchy (likely because my lack o’ mandolin makes thicker chips than are ideal). They are still a bit chewy, but make a vehicle for all sorts of yummy dips. Even just a little ricotta and salt is quite nice. They aren’t going to make you abandon terra chips (after all, those have the added advantage of being fried), but they are a fun, unorthodox addition to your next crudite platter.

Like this:

Related

Hey Klutzy, I’m curious now – why do you love your silpat so much? My mother never had one, and my general assumption is that if she didn’t need it in her kitchen, neither do I. I have started using parchment paper for my baking needs, which is actually a step beyond my mother. Sorry if you’ve mentioned this in another post; feel free to link.

Sorry for the delay on this one. I think when it comes to the silpat, is that it seems to help bake things more evenly. Especially with this recipe that’s a huge plus. I’ve made it before with just the use of parchment paper and had chips baking at all sorts of different rates. (Please note, it could also be the pan, which isn’t exactly top of the line).

I completely agree with the mom standard, but a few things have found their way into my kitchen that wouldn’t have been in my mom’s (silpat, electric scale, etc) that have made my life infintitely easier. And if you want to look at it from a green angle, when it comes to parchment paper vs silpat, there’s no throwing out the silpat afterward.

Bottom line, it definitely falls into the nice but not necessary category, but now that it’s in my home, it gets a lot of use.

Thanks, Cindy. I hope you have the chance to make them. If you have a mandolin, it will be a huge help. One of my biggest problems in even baking was that I didn’t have similarly cut slices, so they were cooking at different rates. That and a little oil and coarse salt would make these even better. Hope you enjoy.

Hmmm….I wonder how these would turn out if I left off the oil and put the sliced beets into my food dehydrator…Might have to try that one of these days. That is, if I can stop making banana chips in the thing for a day or two. 🙂 Those are my addiction but at least foods like these are nice and healthy and can sometimes be used to trick small children into eating fruits and veggies.

Oh, I think it would work out beautifully. While you are at, it might be fun to slice up a sweet potato to have a mix of beet and sweet potato chips. I’ve never used a food dehydrator, but I’ve always want to try one out. It sounds like you’re a banana chip making machine with it!

Seriously love your blog. Great photos. Great recipes. Beet chips! I must try this. I’m on foodie hiatus, it’s torture, but I’m adding your recipe to my list whenever I’m back from the dead. Best from the bowl, L

Hey I met you at the Eden Roc, was looking and there are so many great things. The beet chips look great. One question do you Cook the beets before slicing them as they are very hard. Told you I’m not much of a Cook. Can’t wait to try some things. Thanks again Tara

Hi Tara! Glad you’re enjoying the recipes. Because you want to get the beet chips to be of equal thinness, it’s best to use a mandolin. You do cut them raw and just using a knife makes it really hard to keep them even in size.